17/09/2026
The first time I spent a night in the Sahara was a few years ago, and I’ve been talking about it ever since. I was so inspired so when I flew to Tunisia this time, I knew I had to go back.
It was only a two-day trip this time, but what I hadn’t planned was that our night in the desert would fall on the new moon. And it was wonderfully, gloriously dark.
What I love about the Sahara is the sense of peace. So little visual stimulation. Just the sand beneath your feet and whatever is happening in the sky. A visual meditation.
And then there is the silence. No trees. No leaves. No birds.
It’s one of the most impressive environments I’ve experienced. We often use “desolate” as a synonym for desert, but I think that misses the point. The emptiness creates space for beauty, creativity and expansive thoughts.
And then there was the night.
As soon as it got dark, a billion stars appeared, along with the Milky Way. At 10pm they turned off all the lights in our camp, so I walked into the dunes to stare at the sky… and dance under it.
It was profound and completely out-of-this-world.
The Sahara already had my heart, but this time there was something else. A sense of the veil being thin. Something deep and ancient.
Standing barefoot in the sand with the galaxy above me, with no signs of humans around, felt like being reminded of something I had forgotten.
Also, I can confidently affirm that I’ve found the best place on Earth for a silent disco. Those dunes will be hard to beat. 😂
I dragged my bed out of the tent to sleep under the stars and watch the Milky Way and shooting stars. Consequently, I hardly slept because at 4am I decided I might be missing something important happening in the sky.
Priorities.
I don’t remember ever sleeping outside before, and it made me realise how normal this once was for us. Many millennia ago, humans simply slept under the open sky and saw the stars every clear night.
So the whole trip felt like a reconnection. A deep reset. A reminder of how much noise we normally live with, and how different it feels when it disappears.
And turns out I’m also pretty good at sandboarding.
I wish snowboarding felt this easy 😂